


One hundred and sixty-five

by Star55



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Girl Direction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 16:34:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18876985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star55/pseuds/Star55
Summary: Seeing Zayn for the first time in what feels like forever makes Niall the happiest she has been for an extremely long time.





	One hundred and sixty-five

**Author's Note:**

> This is very short. Sorry?
> 
> as per usual - thanks to emma for the beta and brit-pick, and to leah for the cheerleading (i love you so much leah, you're an incredible human being) ♥
> 
> any leftover mistakes are my own. Please (kindly) tell me if you find something glaringly awful.
> 
> Please do not break the fourth wall and show this to anyone in the band, their family, friends, etc, etc. Thank you. ♥

Seeing Zayn for the first time in what feels like forever makes Niall the happiest she has been for an extremely long time. She doesn’t want to let go when Zayn hugs her, but the rules don’t permit touching for too long, lest something nefarious happen. Niall knows that the rules are there for a reason, but it doesn’t stop it from sucking any less.

“How are you?” Zayn says. She gently cups Niall’s face in her hands for point three of a second before letting go. They sit down, opposite each other and Niall nods. It’s not been that great, but Zayn doesn’t need to know that.

“Good,” she lies with a false smile. 

Zayn looks relieved. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Not a lie. It’s the only thing that has been keeping Niall going in here. She spares a glance around and then surreptitiously lowers her hands under the table. She almost starts sobbing out loud when Zayn’s hands find her own, their fingers lacing together. Still perfect, even after all of this time apart.

“How are you?” Niall asks, genuinely curious. She knows what her life has been like, she wants to know how Zayn is fairing. How things are back home. Everything. She wants to know everything.

“Sleeping is still an issue,” Zayn admits. “I need your snoring to send me off. Like a lullaby.”

Niall bites back the loud laugh she wants to let out. That wouldn’t do her any good. She settles for a grin. “One hundred and sixty-five days until you can hear it again.”

“I can’t wait,” Zayn says. She’s sincere. It warms Niall’s heart. She clings onto it. She’ll be using that later to get herself to sleep.

“How’s Trish and Yaser?” 

Zayn nods. Her fingers tighten against Niall’s own. “They’re good,” she replies. “They miss you, too.”

Niall gives her a crooked smile. “Me too.”

“Be honest, how is it in here?” Zayn asks, softer this time. “I want to know.”

Niall shakes her head. “Trust me, babes, you don’t want to know.” There are plenty of things that Niall could say, and absolutely none of them would do Zayn any good to hear. Niall knows that. She wouldn’t inflict this on anyone if she had to.

“Tell me more about your life,” Niall says earnestly. “How’s work? How are the girls? How’s everything else?”

Listening to Zayn talk makes things easier to bear. Niall will file this conversation away for later and go over it and over it and over it until it loses all meaning. But the sound of Zayn’s voice will stick with her, and she will let it soothe her until she can’t remember anything else. 

The clock ticks louder on the wall where it’s telling Niall that she doesn’t have much time left with Zayn for this visit. The visits are never long enough, never tender enough, never happy enough. Just. Never. Enough.

The way Zayn’s lips turn up in the corners makes Niall smile. She files that away for later as well. She stares, memorising every single inch of Zayn’s skin until she’s able to close her eyes for a brief moment and still see the way Zayn’s mouth moves as she talks, the way her eyebrows furrow when she’s confused, and the way her lips part as she smiles. 

This will be what gets Niall through the next one hundred and sixty-five days. 

Zayn’s voice fades out and she stares at Niall. “Is there anything I can do?” she asks softly.

Niall shakes her head. She squeezes Zayn’s hands under the table, grateful that they haven’t been caught yet. “Nah, I’ll be right.”

“Jaan,” Zayn says, her voice laced with affection. God now Niall has missed Zayn calling her that. She’d give anything to wake up to Zayn saying that softly in her ears, rather than the way she has woken up every day for the last six months. 

Niall shakes her head a little more forcefully. She goes to pull her hands away, but Zayn’s grip just tightens. 

“Please.”

Niall opens her mouth to respond, but an alarm goes off overhead. Her hands slide out of Zayn’s grip as Zayn looks around, obviously confused.

“Inmates, on the ground!”

Niall shoots the correctional officer watching over them a look. “Can I just say goodbye?” she asks.

“Inmate, on the ground!”

Niall sighs. She never wanted Zayn to see this. She lowers herself to the filthy ground and sighs. She’s surprised when Zayn kneels next to her.

“Keep your head down and remember that I love you,” Zayn whispers urgently. “I’ll see you next week.”

Niall nods. She doesn’t watch Zayn walk away, but she can hear the heavy noise of Zayn’s boots as she leaves the visitor’s room. 

The alarm blares overhead, droning into Niall’s ears, reminding her exactly where she is, and exactly how long she’s already been here.

One hundred and sixty-five days to go, and then she’ll finally be a free woman.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again. If you've got this far, I hope you enjoyed this part. ♥  
> Please leave me a comment if you liked it. I love comments so very much a lot. ♥
> 
>  
> 
> rebloggable post on my [tumblr](https://star55.tumblr.com/post/184979148431)


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